A1 Grand Prix Brands Hatch: Qualifying

The problems suffered by Tonio at Brands Hatch continued on Saturday during the two qualifying sessions for the final round of the 2008-2009 A1 Grand Prix Of Nations. After suffering from serious brake issues yesterday, A1GP Team Italy had a tough time finding the right balance for the tough and twisty racetrack. The main problems are still the brakes, as well as the general grip level, especially on the bumpy areas. As a consequence, despite the hard driving, results didn’t match expectations in the two qualifying sessions. Tonio will take off from the 16th spot on the grid for the sprint race and from the 18th spot for the feature race.

Afterwards, he commented: “The situation is definitely not good in terms of results. After the positive approach experienced at Portimao we expected more here, but we started suffering from brake problems since yesterday. Despite the slight improvement, we can’t find the right balance due to the lack of grip and the unstable handling. In some corner I feel fast, on other places I feel oversteer, understeer and bumping. We’re revamping our set-up for tomorrow’s races. We haven’t given up, and we hope to fight back to the top, though we don’t expect to be as competitive as seen in Portugal.”